Presser foot for slide fasteners

ABSTRACT

A slide fastener presser foot is conventionally attached to a sewing machine presser bar assembly for sewing a slide fastener to a material, such as a garment fabric. A pair of guide channels recessed in the presser foot receives a stringer of the slide fastener and a projection on the front of the presser foot guides the stringer into one of the guide channels.

llnited States Patent 1191 Vizgirda et a1.

11 gfigfifl 1451 May 29, 1973 [54] PRESSER FOOT FOR SLIDE FASTENERS [75] Inventors: Eugenia J. Vizgirda, New Hyde Park, N.Y.; William F. Van Amburg, Meadville, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Textron Inc., Providence, R1.

22 Filed: June 23, 1971 21 Appl.No.: 155,968

[52] U.S.Cl ..112/235 511 Int. Cl. ..DOSb 29/00 [58] Field of Search ..112/235, 240

[56] References Cited 2 UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,492,960 2/1970 Fujisaki ..1 12/235 5/1970 Howell ..1 12/235 10/1967 Howell ..112/235 Primary Examiner-Patrick D. Lawson Attorney-Alexander R. Field et a1.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A slide fastener presser foot is conventionally attached to'a sewing machine presser bar assembly for sewing a slide fastener to a material, such as a garment fabric. A pair of guide channels recessed in the presser foot receives a stringer of the slide fastener and a projection on the front of the presser foot guides the stringer into one of the guide channels.

10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1 PRESSER FOOT FOR SLIDE FASTENERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention:

The present invention relates to g a presser foot adapted to be attached to a sewing machine presser assembly, and in particular to such a presser foot for sewing a slide fastener to a material.

2. Description of the Prior Art:

U. S. Pats. Nos. 2,909,136, 3,003,444, 3,342,151, 3,349,736, 3,492,960, and 3,511,199 are representative of the prior art with respect to a presser foot that is particularly utilized in conjunction with a sewing machine for sewing a slide fastener to a material such as a garment fabric. The prior art devices have advanced in accordance with the advancement in the art of slide fasteners which in recent years have been designed to present a seam-like appearance so that the interlocking elements forming the stringers of a slide fastener are not exposed to view when the slide fastener is closed.

While the prior art devices have been satisfactory for performing the operations for which they were particularly designed, none of the prior art devices has directed any attention to the problem of assuring alignment of the slide fastener stringer before it enters the guide channel of the presser foot. In accordance with the known methods of sewing a slide fastener to a fabric, it is first necessary for the sewing machine operator to press or iron the slide fasteneror it is necessary for the sewing machine operator to direct the slide fastener chain manually, as by finger operation, into the guide channel during the sewing operation. Proper direction of the slide fastener stringer is necessary in order to avoid damage to the interlocking elements of the stringer as would occur if they abut the front end of the presser foot; the proper direction of the slide fastener during the sewing operation is also needed in order to avoid binding of the interlocking elements of the slide fastener stringer against the entrance of the guide channel of the presser foot, which results in the sewing reduction of the rate of speed of the sewing operation as well as full time attention from the sewing machine operator.

I SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to construct a slide fastener presser foot which will solve the problem of properly directing the stringer of a slide fastener into the guide channel of a presser foot during a sewing operation.

The present invention is characterized in that a presser foot is adapted to be attached to a sewing machine presser bar assembly for sewing a slide fastener to a material and includes front and rear portions, top and bottom surfaces extending between the front and rear portions, a pair of guide channels recessed in the bottom surface, and means projecting forwardly from the front portion to direct a stringer of the slide fastener into one of the guide channels.

Another object of the present invention is to eliminate the need of flattening or ironing a slide fastener prior to sewing it to a material. 1

This invention has another object in that the rate of speed of a sewing machine need not be reduced during a sewing operation for a slide fastener.

This invention has another object in that a projection on the front end of a presser foot properly directs the stringer of a slide fastener into the presser foot guide channel.

A further object of the present invention is to shape a projection on the forward end of a presser foot so as to engage smoothly the stringer of a slide fastener without catching or stretching the stringer during the sewing operation.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a presser foot embodying the present invention with means for attaching the presser foot to the sewing machine presser bar assembly and with a slide fastener portion being sewn to a marginal portion of a material;

FIG. 2 is a bottom isometric view of the presser foot of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a left or rear elevation view of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a right or front elevation view of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention is embodied in a slide fastener presser foot, indicated generally at 10 in FIG. 1, which is adapted to be assembled with a sewing machine component for stitching a slide fastener to any suitable fabric, such as is found in garments. The slide fastener presser foot 10 is made as a one piece molded plastic element having a generally rectangular outline with a substantially flat top surface 12 and with an elongated through slot 14 centrally located adjacent the forward end of the presser foot 10. The rear end 16 of the presser foot is perpendicular to the top surface 12 and joins an inclined surface 18 leading to a bottom surface 20 which is smooth enough not to impede relative movement between the presser foot 10 and the slide fastener being stitched. The bottom surface 20 is hollowed out to form longitudinal recesses separated by a V-shaped partition 22 centrally disposed along the major longitudinal axis of the rectangular presser foot 10. The partition 22 extends from the rear to front ends of the presser foot 10 and is intersected by the elongated slot 14 adjacent which the partition has a rearwardly disposed sloping surface 24 and a forwardly disposed sloping surface 26.

As viewed in FIG. 3, the left hand recess is indicated as 30 with the right hand recess being indicated at 130. Since the left hand and right hand structural elements of the presser foot 10 are substantially identical, only the left hand elements are being described in detail; the corresponding right hand elements are shown on the drawing with added to the reference numerals of the left hand elements, e.g., recesses 30 and 130. The left side 32 of the presser foot 10 has a perpendicular wall 34 with a bottom edge chamfer 36 joining the bottom surface 20; the wall 34 leads to an offset side 38 that terminates in a front wall 40, the bottom edge of which is formed with a radius 42 joining the bottom surface 20. A second offset side 44 extends transversely from the front wall 40 and joins an angularly disposed end 46, the lower edge of which terminates in a bevel 48. As is apparent from FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the angular end 46 and its counterpart 146 join at a pointed edge 3 50, all of which cooperate with the bevels 48 and 148 to define a nose element or diamond head projecting forwardly from the front end portion defined by the front walls 40 and 140.

A sewing needle 60, which vertically reciprocates in the elongated slot 14 during a stitching operation, is attached to a sewing machine. As is well known in the art, the sewing machine also includes a presser bar assembly (not shown), to which the presser foot is attached. Any suitable means may be utilized for attaching the presser foot 10 to the sewing machine presser bar assembly. In the illustration of FIGS. 1-5, the top surface 12 of the presser foot 10 is provided with a pair of spaced, inverted L-shaped projections 62 and 64 arranged in opposition to each other to define attaching grooves. A mounting shank 66 has a base portion with oppositely disposed tongues being tightly received in the attaching grooves. As is conventional in the art, the mounting shank 66 has a vertical post which is secured to the sewing machine presser bar assembly.

The attaching grooves are shown as being adjacent the rear of the presser foot 10 and being transverse to the longitudinal axis thereof. However, such grooves may be arranged parallel to the longitudinal axis of the presser foot 10, may be recessed in the top surface 12,

and may be located on portions other than the rear portion of the presser foot 10; accordingly, any type of attachment arrangement may be utilized in order to satisfy the requirements of various types of sewing machines and/or presser bar assemblies. With such an arrangement a slide fastener part 68 is sewn to an edge of material 70 by the sewing machine needle 60 which applies stitches adjacent the interlocking elements of the slide fastener stringer.

During a sewing operation, the stringer of the slide fastener 68 is first engaged by the projection extending forwardly from the front wall 40-140 and pointed edge 50 of this projection causes the interlocking elements of the stringer to be on only one side of the projection depending on which side of the slide fastener is being sewn. In the illustration of FIG. 1, the stringer of the slide fastener is being directed through the left hand channel 30 for stitching by the sewing machine needle 60. The angularly disposed end 46 assures the proper positioning of the interlocking elements on the stringer before they actually enter the guide channel 30. Accordingly, each one of the interlocking elements of the stringer is precluded from any engagement with front wall 40 which would cause binding, catching or stretching of the stringer such as would occur with the stringers made of plastic filamentary material. The proper arrangement of the stringer before it enters the guide channel also prevents the possibility of the filamentary stringer itself being stitched; a stitched down filamentary stringer has been a problem in the past in that it would render the entire slide fastener inoperative after minor usage.

As is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3, the bevels 48 and 148 from the angular ends 46 and 146 are joined at an edge which is an extension of the edge 50. All of these ends and bevels define a plurality of facets which are joined at their contiguous edges so as to have a generally diamond-shaped configuration. This diamondshaped configuration smoothly engages the stringer and causes it to roll or turn into a plane defined by the plane of the corresponding guide channel, e.g., the guide channel 30 in FIG. 5. The length of the projection from the front wall 40-140 may be varied in accordance with the dimension separating the two guide channels 30 and 130. The bottom edge chamfers 36-136 and the radii 42 and 142 permit the slide fastener 68 to travel smoothly under the presser foot 10. As is apparent from FIG. 4, the longitudinally extending partition 22 terminates in a plane above the plane defined by the bottom surface 20 so as not to impede the travel of the slide fastener 68 under the smooth bottom surface 20. The V-shaped partition 22 defines the angle of inclination with which the guide channel 30 is inclined towards the guide channel this angular relationship between the two guide channels 30 and 130 permits the slide fastener stringer to travel more easily through such channels.

With the foregoing arrangement, the presser foot according to the present invention may be easily and economically constructed by molding a suitable plastic into an integral one-piece construction. The present invention has the further advantage in that the manual positioning of the stringer relative to the presser foot is no longer necessary whereby possibility of injury to the operators finger is eliminated.

Inasmuch as the present invention is subject to many modifications, alterations and changes in details, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A presser foot adapted to be attached to a sewing machine presser bar assembly for sewing a slide fastener to a material comprising front and rear portions,

top and bottom surfaces extending between said front and rear portions,

guide channel means recessed in said bottom surface,

a needle receiving slot extending through said top and bottom surfaces and being disposed adjacent but spaced from said front portion, and

means projecting forwardly from said front portion to direct a stringer of the slide fastener into said guide channel means.

2. The presser foot as recited in claim 1 wherein said projecting means includes a pointed edge. I

3. The presser foot as recited in claim 1 wherein said projecting means includes beveled portions.

4. The presser foot as recited in claim 1 wherein said projection means includes a plurality of facets joined to define a generally diamond-shaped configuration.

5. The presser foot as recited in claim 1 wherein said projecting means includes surface means displaced from said bottom surface but being in planar relationship thereto in order to facilitate movement of the stringer of the slide fastener relative to said front portion.

6. A presser foot for a slide fastener adapted to facilitate stitching of the slide fastener to a material by a sewing machine comprising spaced front and rear portions,

top and bottom surfaces extending between said front and rear portions,

a needle receiving slot transversely extending through said top and bottom surfaces,

a pair of guide channels recessed in said bottom surface,

a projection on said front portion extending transversely therefrom, and

end means angularly extending from said projection to form a pointed edge for turning a stringer of the slide fastener to a plane corresponding to a plane defined by one of said guide channels.

7. The presser foot as recited in claim 6 wherein said end means includes bevel edges joined together in a plane defined by said pointed edge.

8. The presser foot as recited in claim 6 wherein a partition separates said pair of guide channels, and said slot intersects said partition.

mond-shaped configuration. 

1. A presser foot adapted to be attached to a sewing machine presser bar assembly for sewing a slide fastener to a material comprising front and rear portions, top and bottom surfaces extending between said front and rear portions, guide channel means recessed in said bottom surface, a needle receiving slot extending through said top and bottom surfaces and being disposed adjacent but spaced from said front portion, and means projecting forwardly from said front portion to direct a stringer of the slide fastener into said guide channel means.
 2. The presser foot as recited in claim 1 wherein said projecting means includes a pointed edge.
 3. The presser foot as recited in claim 1 wherein said projecting means includes beveled portions.
 4. The presser foot as recited in claim 1 wherein said projection means includes a plurality of facets joined to define a generally diamond-shaped configuration.
 5. The presser foot as recited in claim 1 wherein said projecting means includes surface means displaced from said bottom surface but being in planar relationship thereto in order to facilitate movement of the stringer of the slide fastener relative to said front portion.
 6. A presser foot for a slide fastener adapted to facilitate stitching of the slide fastener to a material by a sewing machine comprising spaced front and rear portions, top and bottom surfaces extending between said front and rear portions, a needle receiving slot transversely extending through said top and bottom surfaces, a pair of guide channels recessed in said bottom surface, a projection on said front portion extending transversely therefrom, and end means angularly extending from said projection to form a pointed edge for turning a stringer of the slide fastener to a plane corresponding to a plane defined by one of said guide channels.
 7. The presser foot as recited in claim 6 wherein said end means includes bevel edges joined together in a plane defined by said pointed edge.
 8. The presser foot as recited in claim 6 wherein a partition separates said pair of guide channels, and said slot intersects said partition.
 9. The presser foot as recited in claim 6 wherein said pair of guide channels are angularly inclined toward each other and are separated by a partition longitudinally extending between said front and rear portions.
 10. The presser foot as recited in claim 6 wherein said end means includes a plurality of facets joined together at contiguous edges to define a generally diamond-shaped configuration. 